Improvement in lamp-burners



-1. n. wlLLouGHY.

Wick Raiser.

Patented April 26, 1870.

f m. f

NPETERS, PHoTo-LJTHOGRAPHER. wAsmNGToN, D CA parte can.

I J. n. WILLoUcHBY; or .sHIrPENsBnRe PENSYLVANIA. '1

Letters Patent No. 192,457, dat'edApc'il 26, 1870.

IMPROVEMENTy IN LAMP-BURNERS.

The Schedule referred to in `these Letters Patent and making part of the same To all 'whom it lmay concern 4 Be it known that LJ. D. WILLOUGHBY, of Shippensbnrg, in thecounty ot' Cumberland and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lamps; and I do herebyx declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact descriptionithereof, reference being had to 'the accompanying drawings making part ot' this specili'cation and to the letters oi reference ,markedthereon To enable others skilled in the art to construct and use m'y invention I will proceed to describe it.

My invention relates to improvements for moving the wick in the tube of a lamp, as necessity may require, to give more or less light, and for other purposes; and

.It consists, irst.' of a detachable spring inserted in f l the device B in its proper posltlon. g

or screw on its lower end, by means of which 1t is at.-

the wick-tube to maintain thewick constantly in contactwith the ratchet-wheel; and, second, in the manner of constructing the wick-moving ratchec'. c.,

with the hooked teeth and with different ratchets on f v of this spring is such that its'two ends .press against the side of th'e tube furthest from the device B, while themiddle'part of vit presses in theopposite direction agai'nstlthev wick E, and holdsit against B, thus invsuring proper contact between the wick and the dej vice for moving it without regard to the thickness ory the same shaft, `'with teeth reversed so as to move the wick either up or down with` equal facility.

As wicks are now elevated and depressed great inconvenience is experiencedfwhen the wick is above or belowa certain thickness, because the ratchet-teeth will only penetrate the wickl when it is in thickness more than suiiicient to lill the space between the ratchet and the opposite side of the tube.

When the wick is too thin itis not firmly caught by the teeth of the device for movingfit, and when lit is too thick there is not room for it between the teeth' and side of the tube; in either case thewick is not properly acted upon or moved.

' And, if all wicks'were made preciselythe same inl thickness that would not remedy the evil, because the space between the teeth of the vmoving device and the side 'of the wick-tube against which the wick is now pressed, in order to be moved, is not the same in all tubes.

Another defect is seenin the form of the teeth now used for moving the wick.

The teeth are made in the form of a triangle, with their base toward the center of the wheel or disk, of which they form a part, and a dull point at the furthest extremity from the center.

Teeth of this form present an inclined plane to the vwick rather than a hook or shoulder resembling a saw-tooth and .are very liable to slip on the wick without moving it. To remedy these defects I make the teeth of a form better calculated to catch the wick, aud also, by a yielding pressure, hold the Wick against the teeth of the' device for moving it.-

Figure lis a vertical section through the tube and burner.

finto it. Fig. 2 shows the form and edge of the spring D as Figure 2 is an'edge view of spring detached.

Figure 3 is a side viewof spring D detached.

Figure 4 is an elevation of tube with spring in posit-ion.

Figure 5 is an edge view of modified spring D detached.'

Figure 6 is avertical` section', through burner and I tube with spring D in position. Figure 7 is a perspective view of ratchcts and shaft or wick-moving device. v

A, in iig. 1, is the wick-tube.' B, in 'the `same gure, is the shaft and ratchetwheels, called the device for moving-the wick.

'lhe .device here'showu is the same as that in public use. f

It has a thread tached to the oil vessel.

D is a spring inserted into the tube AC The forni thinness of the wick. l y

The tube A extends a greater distance below B than is seen in lamps now in use. This extension is made to give a bearing to the lower cud ofthe spring so far below B as to enable the spring to act well and hold the wick ywith sniicient iirmuess avaiust the de- Y vice for moving it l The tube must be made large enough to 'receive the'spring and the largest wick suitable to be put seen in iig. 1, and also shows a catch, F, at its lower end, which catchits into a recess or hole H, as seen 'in tube A, iu ig.'4-, where a diereut view of the tube and lower end of the spring D'is shown.

A portion of the. spring or piece projecting from it extends below the tube, as seen in gr, so that the hand of the operator can take hold of it to put the spring into the tube and catch or remove it therefrom when desired.

The spring may be made without the projecting piece, which is only a matter of convenience.

The device B, in iig. 6, for moving the wick, and

more fully shown in iig. 7, contains features that I have not seen elsewhere. v

Figure 6 also contains a modification of spring D. An edge view' of it -is seen in iig. 5. .lhe tube Ain this figure does not extend down so far asin the first ligure, but to give the "spring C, in the same gure, is a box or f'rane for holdin suiieient length below the device B-to insure tension, its lower end is extended down some distance, and is then bent outward and upward until the end touches the lower side of they box c, to which it is attached by a catch on its lower end, which enters into a hole or recess in the bottom of the box, and is held there by its own tension. The samevtension causing the middle part of the spring to press against the device B or against the wick E, which is between them, and thus hold the wick against the teeth of the device for moving it, the same as is done in tig. -1.

If preferred, the bend in the'spring may be such that the outer end may come upon the inside of the tube far enough to allowthe catch on its lower end go fit into a hole or recess in the tube as it does in `If made in this form it will be van advantage to make the tube with a wide mouth to receive the spring.

recess orA hole prepared for it in the upper end of the tube; or a catchl might be made on both ends of the spring to lit ou the under and upper edge of the tube, and thus avoid making any hole or recess in the tube for the catch though, if desired to make the upper edge of the tube perfectly uniform in height, it

,. will be necessary to cut.` ont of ,the/,top of the tube where the catch rests the breadth and thickness of the catch, so that when the spring is p ut into its `place the upper side of the catch will be just as high as'the surrounding parts of the tube.. A further modication in the mode of attaching the spring to the burner might be made by making the hole or recess in the spring'instead of in thetube, and then the catch should be on the tube instead of being, as now, on the spring. But all these modifications are regarded as the same thing to accomplish the same end.

It will be observed that the spring D is supported at or near each of its ends, and that its4 tensile force is exerted from its central portion against the wick opposite to `the ratchet. v m

An equal force can be secured from a spring arranged in this way with less material than if the spring should be secured at one end and exert its power at the other end; that is to say, the spring D may be made of thinner' metal and more cheaply than if it should be secured at one end and free at the other.

y A spring permanently attached to the burner would necessarily be inferior to a removable spring, because its elasticity would become impaired by the heat of' the burner, and it could not be replaced by a new one at an expense much, if any, less than the cost of a new burner. Y l

y The accumulation of viscid oil, cinder, andlint behind such a. spring would also soon render it inoperative.

With a spring readily detachable replacement is easy when elasticity has been destroyed by heat, and

thorough cleansing ofthe burner is possible.

When a new wick is to be inserted the operation is facilitated by removing the spring and thus enlarging the aperture of the tube.

When so removed, the spring itself may be employed as a tool to facilitate the introduction of the new wick.

The spring D may be employed in any burner'al' disks on which the teeth are cut are turned to elevate the wick, the forward teeth catch it firmly, and when they are turned to depress it, the backward teeth catch with equal firmness and move the wick as desired. i

The teeth can be varied in amount of edge or` shoulder presented to the wick.

The object aimed at is to present just so much hook edge or shoulder that the teeth will not slip on the wick nor hook fast to it so as to be objectionable.

The number of wheels or ratchets used as a wick-` i raising-device can be varied as may be desired.

In some cases it may be desired to construct'the tube A with more room for the wick and spring where the device B operates than is required at the ltop of the tube.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The arrangement upon the shaft of the wickraiser of two or more ratchet-wheels,- so that the teeth of theone wheel' will point in a direction opposite to that of the teeth of the other, as and for the purpose set forth. i

2. The removable spring D, with 'the elastic portion or fold below thewick-tube, as described,in combination with the burner A.

3. The combination of a removable spring, D, with a burner, A, substantially as described, and for the y purpose set forth.

J. D. WILLOUGHBY.

Witnesses:

M. O. BANNERMAN, R. E. HARTWELL. 

